Oct. 22, 2011
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By Marc Daniels
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - It wasn't supposed to be this way seven games into the season. But the UCF football team finds itself at a place where it must make a decision. The Knights, with so much preseason anticipation, have two choices and the choice this team makes may define them for more than just the 2011 season.
One choice is to play the remaining five games with no enthusiasm, no passion, no desire to get better and be home for the holidays. That choice would be easy for a team to make and would not require much effort.
The other choice requires attention to detail, maximum effort, focus, determination and a little anger. This choice may not only turn a season around but it may also define the legacy of many players. And if the current UCF football team needs an example of what this choice is all about, they may want to think of which UCF guy had the passion, energy and "want to" at the UAB game. Who was that? Bruce Miller.
The former two-time all-C-USA Defensive Player of the Year made the trip to Birmingham, along with former Knights Torell Troup and Kamar Aiken, all now members of the NFL.
Miller was the most vocal of anyone last Thursday. He paced the sideline. He screamed defensive reads. He pumped up his teammates. That's right, he pumped up his teammates. To him, he is still part of this football team. He may no longer have any eligibility to play, but that's his team on the field. That's the jersey he so proudly wore and that's the tradition he helped build.
The team may look back later and see that how they respond over the course of the next five weeks may impact them beyond this season. For the 2010 team, it was the painful loss at Kansas State.
In that game, UCF dominated the game and yet a late score by the Wildcats, who happen to be pretty good this season with most of that 2010 squad back, won the game and left UCF with a bitter taste. With a record of 2-2, the 2010 Knights had a choice to make. They could have said we can't win close games and we are not good enough and the conference season just doesn't do anything for us. No. Instead, that team got angry. That team came to practice with an approach to work on getting better each week. That team started to play like they thought about playing and the result was a championship team.
This year's team does not have Bruce Miller or Torell Troup or Kamar Aiken, three experienced seniors who understood that tough times can bring a team closer and make a team better by how you respond to adversity.
No one player can simply make the choice. Bruce Miller needed his team in 2010 to want to become the team they became. This year's team needs the want. There is plenty of football to play and the goal of winning a conference title is still very attainable. But the paths are now in front of this team. The question is, which one do they choose?
Knights notes and more: Memphis basketball is ranked ninth in the AP poll which came out last week. The Tigers are picked by just about everyone to win the league. Most pre-season publications and websites have UCF finishing among the top three or four teams in C-USA. I've said it for years, no league gets less attention for all the talent it has. C-USA is loaded with at least eight teams that can all claim a legitimate shot to compete for the league crown...Terry Rooney wants another shot on my radio show to challenge me in a "80's Music Showdown." He will also promote his Black and Gold World Series. But he also better know Kajagoogoo's smash hit from 1983... When in Birmingham, head to Jim and Nick's BBQ. Get the half rack of baby back ribs with the mashed potatoes and gravy and the mac-n-cheese. You will be a better person after the experience... Final thought: Why do so many of us need to know the temperature to determine that we are cold?
Marc Daniels' From the Press Box runs several times per month on UCFAthletics.com. Listen to Marc during UCF football, men's basketball and baseball radio broadcasts on the UCF Sports Network. Each weekday, Marc hosts The Beat of Sports on ESPN Radio 1080 in Orlando.